The application is now available for 2012. Scholarships up to $20,000 over four years will be awarded to full-time students who have been accepted to an accredited four-year college, university or equivalent (culinary school, for example). Applicants can be current high school seniors entering college in the fall or students currently attending a college or university.

The scholarship will be paid directly to the institution of higher learning. All who meet the requirements below are invited to apply.

Scholarship recipients will receive notice of their award by June 15 of the school year prior to when the scholarship will commence.

Scholarship Application Requirements:

• Acceptance to an accredited four-year college, university or equivalent
• Low income household
• G.P.A. of 2.5 or higher
• Involvement in an extra-curricular activity or work
• Completion of full application

Click HERE to apply!

In August of 2011, Beyond the Boroughs scholars Mariadis Akinci from the University of Central Florida, Amy Pruim from St. John’s University and Cathy Williams from Syracuse University along with Beyond the Boroughs Founder Tutan Reyes and Administrator Ray Reyes participated in a service learning trip to Botswana with The Somarela Fund.

Each year The Somarela Fund takes a group of students to Botswana to bolster and sustain humanitarian aid and social services. This summer’s trip lasted for two and a half weeks and the Beyond the Boroughs scholars were provided with full scholarships from The Somarela Fund to attend the trip. They joined students from Riverdale Country Day School in various projects that helped the community in Maun, Botswana. Students built a bathroom for a woman who is HIV positive. Students also planted seeds for over one hundred trees as a part of a highway beautification project, put mud on a hut made of sticks in order to keep the family of eight warm who lives in the hut and completed various projects at the Bana Ba Letsatsi community center for at risk youth. In addition to the service portion of the trip, participants were also able to go on two safaris in Moremi and Chobe National Park.

The trip helped the students find differences and commonalities amongst the Botswana people and culture. Each student is required to complete a project upon returning in order to bring back what they learned to their various communities.

Here are some highlights from the trip and we are extremely thankful to The Somarela Fund for making this trip possible for our scholars.

Beyond the Boroughs selected six scholars for the 2011-2012 academic year:

• Keith Byam – St. John’s University
• James Correa – Florida State University
• Peace and Love El Henson – University of California Berkeley
• David Osayande – New York University
• Felix Navarro – The City College of New York
• Angel Trinh – University of California Berkeley

Beyond the Boroughs would like to thank all of our supporters that helped us assist these deserving young men and women with attending institutions of higher education.

Beyond the Boroughs goes Beyond a Scholarship

Our Fundraising Strategy
Tutan Reyes envisions Beyond the Boroughs as a movement beyond a scholarship fund. Giving in ways that make a difference shouldn’t be reserved for a privileged few any more than attending college should be. Our fund raising strategy honors all those who find a way to donate, and not merely the highest contributors.

Our Founder
Tutan Reyes takes this program as seriously as the his day job with the NFL. Prior to starting a scholarship fund, he sought out the guidance of an experienced philanthropic advisor to ensure the program best benefited the young scholarship recipients. More interested in the accessibility of scholarships than personal acclaim, Reyes has made it easy for donors to establish scholarships in their own names, or in honor of loved ones.

Our Range
Beyond the Boroughs was not created to benefit a single segment of the population, or students of a particular ethnic or racial group, or those from a specific geographic area. It is not a scholarship fund for only the academically or athletically “gifted,” but rather aims to benefit all hardworking, low-income students who are motivated to further their education beyond high school.

Our Award
Beyond the Boroughs will award each student with up to $20,000 over four years. This is distributed as a maximum of up to $5,000 a year, renewable each year for all four years.

Our Timing
Prospective recipients can apply for a Beyond the Boroughs scholarship before the start of freshman year, or at any time during their undergraduate work.

View the original post, and vote on the feature at http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/sports/56933487.html